Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton secured the 101st pole position of his career on Saturday as he went quickest in qualifying for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton, who is aiming for his 100th Grand Prix victory and his ninth in Hungary, will be joined on the front row by Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas with championship leader Max Verstappen starting third alongside his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
Hamilton was quickest during the final practice session on Saturday morning but the Briton bided his time and, unlike his rivals, sticking to the medium tyres in Q2 which saw him land just the sixth-quickest time.
Switching to the softs for Q3 he produced a blistering lap of 1min 15.419sec, over three-tenths of a second faster than Bottas, who had also used the mediums.
“It was an amazing qualifying lap and it has been amazing teamwork from everyone, Valtteri included, trying to push the car forward. The guys at the factory have left no stone unturned.
“The soft tyre is worth something like five metres into turn one. It was surprising to see everyone in the top 10 on the softs apart from us.”
Verstappen, who crashed out of the last race after a first lap collision with Hamilton, had to make do with third, signalling a remarkable 20 consecutive top three qualifications.
Verstappen leads the title race with an eight-point lead over Hamilton.